Gaming Services Workers

Career, Salary and Education Information

What They Do: Gaming services workers serve customers in gambling establishments, such as casinos or racetracks.

Work Environment: Most gaming services workers are employed in the casino hotels, local government or gambling industries. Because most establishments are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, employees often must work during nights, weekends, and holidays.

How to Become One: Most gaming jobs require a high school diploma or equivalent. Some casinos may require gaming managers to have a college degree. In addition, all gaming services workers must have excellent customer-service skills.

Job Outlook: Employment of gaming services workers is projected to grow 5 percent over the next ten years, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Since some states benefit from casinos in the form of tax revenues, additional states currently without commercial gaming establishments may allow new casinos to be built over the next decade.

Gaming services workers serve customers in gambling establishments, such as casinos or racetracks. Some workers tend slot machines or deal cards. Others take bets or pay out winnings. Still others supervise or manage gaming workers and operations.

Duties of Gaming Services Workers

Gaming services workers typically do the following:

Interact with customers and ensure that they have a pleasant experience

Monitor customers for violations of gaming regulations or casino policies

Inform their supervisor or a security employee of any irregularities they observe

Enforce safety rules and report hazards

Explain how to play the games to customers

The following are examples of types of gaming services workers:

Gaming managers and supervisors direct and oversee the gaming operations and personnel in their assigned area. Supervisors circulate among the tables to make sure that everything is running smoothly and that all areas are properly staffed. Gaming managers and supervisors typically do the following:

Keep an eye on customers and employees to ensure compliance with all gaming and casino rules

Communicate with other departments if security or customer-service issues arise

Address customers' complaints about service

Explain house operating rules, such as betting limits, if customers do not understand them

Ensure payouts are correct

Schedule when and where employees in their section will work

Interview, hire, and train new employees

Slot supervisors oversee the activities of the slot department. The job duties of this occupation have changed significantly, as slot machines have become more automated in recent years. Because most casinos use slot machines that give out tickets instead of cash and thus require very little oversight, workers in this occupation spend most of their time providing customer service to slot players. Slot supervisors typically do the following:

Watch over the slot section and ensure that players are satisfied with the games

Refill machines with tickets when they run out

Oversee payment of large jackpots

Respond to and resolve customer complaints

Interview, hire, and train new employees

Gaming dealers operate table games such as craps, blackjack, and roulette. They stand or sit behind tables while serving customers. Dealers control the pace and action of the game. They announce each player's move to the rest of the table and let players know when it is their turn. Most dealers are often required to work at least two games, usually blackjack or craps. Gaming dealers typically do the following:

Give out cards and provide dice or other equipment to customers

Determine winners, calculate and pay off winning bets, and collect on losing bets

Continually inspect cards or dice

Inform players of the rules of the game

Keep track of the amount of money that customers have already bet

Exchange paper money for gaming chips

Gaming and sports book writers and runners handle bets on sporting events and take and record bets for customers. Sports book writers and runners also verify tickets and pay out winning tickets. In addition, they help run games such as bingo and keno. Some gaming runners collect winning tickets from customers in a casino. Gaming and sports book writers and runners typically do the following:

Scan tickets and calculate winnings

Operate the equipment that randomly selects bingo or keno numbers

Announce bingo or keno numbers when they are selected

Oversee the cash that comes in (on bets) and goes out (on winnings) during their shift

Gaming services workers hold about 173,100 jobs. Employment in the detailed occupations that make up gaming services workers is distributed as follows:

Gaming dealers

95,500

First-line supervisors of gaming workers

49,700

Gaming and sports book writers and runners

11,700

Gaming service workers, all other

10,300

Gaming managers

5,900

The largest employers of gaming services workers are as follows:

Local government, excluding education and hospitals

24%

Self-employed workers

13%

Spectator sports

5%

Some gaming services occupations are physically demanding. Gaming dealers spend most of their shift standing behind a table. Although managers and supervisors may spend some limited time working in an office, they must frequently walk up and down the casino floor.

A casino atmosphere also may expose gaming services workers to hazards such as secondhand smoke from cigarettes, cigars, or pipes. Noise from slot machines, gaming tables, and loud customers may be distracting to some, although workers may wear protective headgear in areas where machinery is used to count money.

Gaming Services Work Schedules

Most casinos are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Employees are often scheduled to work nights, weekends, and holidays, which are typically the busiest times for casinos.

Most gaming jobs require a high school diploma or equivalent. Some casinos may require gaming managers to have a college degree. In addition, all gaming services workers must have excellent customer-service skills.

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Education for Gaming Services Workers

Gaming dealers, gaming supervisors, sports book writers and runners, and slot supervisors typically need a high school diploma or equivalent. Educational requirements for gaming managers, however, differ by casino. Although some casinos may only require a high school diploma or equivalent, others require gaming managers to have a college degree. Those who choose to pursue a degree may study hotel management, hospitality, or accounting in addition to taking formal management classes.

Gaming Services Worker Training

Individual casinos or other gaming establishments have their own training requirements. New gaming dealers may be sent to gaming school for a few weeks to learn a casino game, such as blackjack or craps. These schools teach the rules and procedures of the game, as well as state and local laws and regulations related to the game.

Although gaming school is primarily for new employees, some experienced dealers have to go to gaming school if they want to be trained in a new casino game.

Completing gaming school before being hired may increase a prospective dealer's chances of being hired, but it does not guarantee a job. Casinos usually audition prospective dealers for open positions to assess their personal qualities.

Gaming and sports book writers and runners usually do not have to go to gaming school. They can be trained by the casino in less than 1 month. The casino teaches them state and local laws and regulations related to the game, as well the particulars of their job, such as keno calling.

Gaming services workers must be licensed by a state regulatory agency, such as a state casino control board or gaming commission. Licensing requirements for supervisory or managerial positions may differ from those for gaming dealers, gaming and sports book writers and runners, and all other gaming workers. However, all applicants for a license must provide photo identification and pay a fee. They also must typically pass an extensive background check and drug test. Failure to pass the background check may prevent candidates from getting a job or a gaming license.

Age requirements also vary by state. For specific licensing requirements, visit the state's gaming commission website.

Work Experience in a Related Occupation for Gaming Services Workers

Gaming and slot supervisors and gaming managers usually have several years of experience working in a casino. Gaming supervisors often have experience as a dealer or in the customer outreach department of the casino. Slot supervisors usually have experience as a slot technician or slot attendant. Some also may have worked in entry-level marketing or customer-service positions.

Advancement for Gaming Services Workers

Gaming managers are often promoted from positions as slot or gaming supervisors. They also may be moved from a management job in another part of the resort, such as hospitality, after learning about casino operations through an internship or on-the-job training.

Gaming dealers can advance to gaming supervisors and eventually managers. A slot supervisor can also advance to gaming manager.

Important Qualities for Gaming Services Workers

Communication skills. Gaming services workers must explain the rules of the game to customers and answer any questions they have. Simple misunderstandings can cost a customer a lot of money and damage the reputation of the casino.

Customer-service skills. All gaming jobs involve a lot of interaction with customers. The success or failure of a casino depends on how customers view the casino, making customer service important for all gaming services occupations.

Leadership skills. Gaming managers and supervisors oversee other gaming services workers and must guide them in doing their jobs and developing their skills.

Math skills. Because they deal with large amounts of money, many casino workers must be good at math.

Organizational skills. Gaming managers and supervisors must be well organized to handle administrative and other tasks required in overseeing gaming services workers.

Patience. All gaming services workers must keep their composure when they handle a customer who becomes upset or breaks a rule. They also must be patient in dealing with equipment failures or malfunctions.

The median annual wage for gaming services workers is $23,520. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $17,270, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $58,930.

Median annual wages for gaming services workers are as follows:

Gaming managers

$74,970

First-line supervisors of gaming workers

$50,710

Gaming service workers, all other

$28,300

Gaming and sports book writers and runners

$24,750

Gaming dealers

$21,260

The median annual wages for gaming services workers in the top industries in which they work are as follows:

Spectator sports

$25,050

Local government, excluding education and hospitals

$25,000

Most casinos are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Employees are often scheduled to work nights, weekends, and holidays, which are typically the busiest times for casinos.

Employment of gaming services workers is projected to grow 5 percent over the next ten years, slower than the average for all occupations.

Employment will be driven by the increasing popularity of gambling establishments. Additional states currently without commercial gaming establishments may allow new casinos to be built over the next decade in an effort to bring in more tax revenue.

As more states approve expansions in the number of gaming establishments, the competition for customers will increase. Those establishments that fail to keep or attract customers may close, thereby negating some of the jobs created from new casinos.

Job Prospects for Gaming Services Workers

Although jobs are expected to open as workers leave the occupation, strong competition is expected for jobs at casinos. Those with work experience in customer service at a hotel or resort should have better job prospects because of the importance of customer service in casinos.

Those already with a gaming license and knowledge and training in different casino games will have the best job prospects.

Lodging managers ensure that guests on vacation or business travel have a pleasant experience at a hotel, motel, or other types of establishment with accommodations. They also ensure that the establishment is run efficiently and profitably.

Public relations managers plan and direct the creation of material that will maintain or enhance the public image of their employer or client. Fundraising managers coordinate campaigns that bring in donations for their organization.

Public relations specialists create and maintain a favorable public image for the organization they represent. They craft media releases and develop social media programs to shape public perception of their organization and to increase awareness of its work and goals.